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**khjhkfggt** · 09-04-2006, 02:25 PM

Originally posted by Spiffor

According to Pekka Himanen, yes they were. The religion depicted work as a curse instead of a blessing, and there was no religious/ideological incentive to do more than the daily toil.

Besides, wealth was typically frowned upon in catholic countries (to the point that such dirty jobs as usury were left to the Jews and forbidden to Christians), so the accumulation of capital was not a priority either. I'm not a Calvinist, yet I don't recall ever being told that work is a curse. Maybe this Pekka Himanen doesn't know what he's talking about. AFAIK the ideology of modern capitalism arose simultaneously in Calvinist Netherlands and non-Calvinist England.

09-04-2006, 02:25 PM	#18
khjhkfggt Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 396 Senior Member	Originally posted by Spiffor According to Pekka Himanen, yes they were. The religion depicted work as a curse instead of a blessing, and there was no religious/ideological incentive to do more than the daily toil. Besides, wealth was typically frowned upon in catholic countries (to the point that such dirty jobs as usury were left to the Jews and forbidden to Christians), so the accumulation of capital was not a priority either. I'm not a Calvinist, yet I don't recall ever being told that work is a curse. Maybe this Pekka Himanen doesn't know what he's talking about. AFAIK the ideology of modern capitalism arose simultaneously in Calvinist Netherlands and non-Calvinist England.
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